Genetic Effects on Aging (Telford Press) II

This volume provides background knowledge useful to those setting out to do genetic studies of aging in mammals, and raises vital questions: How many genes are important in mammalian aging? What are the optimal methods for their study? To what degree are patterns of aging, and patterns of growth and development part of the same process? Do patterns of development predict subsequent patterns of growth and aging? Are there a few fundamental aging processes, or does every biological system age? The rapid rate of progress in this field required a new volume with a new approach, based on the combination of classical genetics and the powerful new tools of molecular genetics. Although mammalian systems are emphasized, representatives of the advanced genetic studies in Drosophila and other model systems are included. The purpose is to enrich and stimulate genetic studies of mammalian aging by suggesting and evaluating future possibilities.